Warning
by Mystical Magician
Summary: Rose Tyler's daughter was determined to have a normal adult life, even if it meant moving to a completely different dimension. When Eve's mother finally heard about her new job, she thought it was hilarious. The Librarians were confused.
1. Chapter 1

Yet another idea that has been nagging at me, but at least it was a drabble. If only my other stories could be written so quickly...

* * *

" _There isn't really a choice, is there?" he whispered. "Adventure cheats. It's so much shinier and louder than Not-Adventure."  
_ _- **Catherynne M. Valente, The Boy Who Lost Fairyland**_

The first time she heard the words, Eve didn't dwell on them. After all, the people of the town were being turned into fairytale characters and the Big Bad Wolf was featured in more than one story. Considering her family ties, she was mostly just relieved not to become one of the wolves, even if the whole helpless princess thing was beyond irritating. It took a couple of weeks before the memory of it didn't conjure a desperate wish for a punching bag or a shooting range.

The next instance was less ambiguous. Morgan le Fay had brought her between time, or possibly outside of it – English didn't exactly have the right language for temporal descriptions as Eve had learned growing up – and was either warning her, threatening her, or both. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a banner that said 'Bad Wolf'. Later, when she could finally sit and breathe, she hoped that it was just because of how time had been manipulated. A one-off.

But it kept happening. Not all the time, and not obviously. Just enough to keep her aware. Carved into a wall in the house in Slovakia, a brand of machinery parts in Tesla's upstate New York town.

Eve hoped that this was just a warning of an impending visit, rather than a warning of the end of the world.

That faint hope was shattered the moment Lamia was stabbed by Dulaque. She thought the others were probably too preoccupied by the dying woman, but she noticed that every piece of writing, every spine and paper blared 'Bad Wolf', and she cursed as she dove through the glowing portal.

She followed those words, or maybe they followed her, as she moved from thread to thread, until Dulaque – Lancelot, seriously, what the hell? – ran her through with his sword. Time slowed. Literally, she realized after a while. Time for her, for her body, had slowed, and she suspected that Flynn's had increased as he raced through the Library. Just enough to keep her alive until he could save her, and Eve was thankful for the intervention.

In the week after the Library's recovery, Eve thought maybe that was it. That the words had just been a warning, a hint, and a help.

Then the doorbell to the Annex rang, and she opened it to blonde hair, dark eyes, and a bright smile.

"Hello, Eve," Rose said. "I was so worried."

* * *

Rose was bent over double, laughing loudly when Eve finished explaining her new job as Guardian. The Librarians mostly just lingered, looking confused. Including Flynn, Eve noted with mixed feelings. Because her mother would notice how they acted around each other, and would definitely ask. And Eve wasn't quite sure where she and Flynn stood with each other quite yet, particularly since they hadn't even had a date unless they counted running for their lives. Which her mother would definitely count. Except they'd been apart for most of their adventures, which her mother would definitely not be too happy about. Rose had very strong opinions about partners leaving one another behind.

"It's not _that_ funny, Mum," she protested. At this point she didn't care about hiding her past. She hadn't even been trying, really, not since she had become comfortable in her Guardian role. It just hadn't come up, and she certainly wasn't going to randomly announce that she was from a different dimension and her mother wasn't quite human anymore. Not without a reason.

There was a bit of choking, and various confused mutterings of, " _Mum?!_ " Eve ignored it, scowling at their visitor. She was never going to hear the end of this.

"Except it is," her mother cackled. "You left home determined to have a normal life, and now you're runnin' around all over the world helpin' people, with a more-or-less sentient base that's bigger on the inside!"

Eve scowled, but her best argument amounted to an almost petulant, "Just the one world. And time period."

"So far."

Jenkins interrupted politely with a tea set and commented, "You look very young for your age, Mrs. Tyler."

"Rose," she corrected, looking not a day over 25. "Thanks, so do you."

While her mother beamed mischievously at Jenkins, Eve narrowed her eyes at his suddenly blank expression. That did confirm some of her suspicions.

She looked around at the others with a sigh, and Flynn took it as a signal to approach. Maybe she could leave explanations to her mother. Although she was looking forward to Jenkins' face when they got to the part about aliens existing, at least in her home dimension. And maybe she could Jones' UFO geekery to keep him in line for an adventure or two.

Eve glanced back at her mother and couldn't help smiling a little. Despite the trouble, it was nice to see Mum again.


	2. Chapter 2

I was totally not going to add any more to this! And then I binge-watched Librarians season 2 yesterday, and immediately had a thought during that scene in episode 2. And it turned out my thought was correct! So then I decided, fine, and actually wrote this second drabble.

* * *

"There's no evidence whatsoever that any Librarian anywhere has ever recovered pieces of Prospero's staff, or that they wrote that note."

"Yet," Eve commented automatically.

The other two paused, confused.

"Pardon?" Jenkins said.

"No Librarian has recovered the pieces of Prospero's staff yet," she clarified. "Or else it wasn't a Librarian, but it doesn't make sense that someone who wasn't one would sign it that way."

Flynn straightened. "Wait, wait, wait. What you're saying… You're talking time travel?"

"Well, yeah." Eve shrugged. "It's a distinct possibility." Not necessarily the correct one, but they were just theorizing at this point. She'd thought it rather obvious, but she could acknowledge that not everybody's mind would jump to time travel with so few possible clues.

"We do have that room of dismantled time machines," Flynn said, voice trailing off. It was obvious to Eve that his mind was whirling, calculating just how likely her thought could be.

"Dismantled for a reason," Jenkins interjected sharply.

"I wasn't suggesting _we_ time travel," she said defensively. "And if it is a closed loop paradox or something similar, it's best to just let it play out. I'd rather not rip apart the fabric of time and space, thank you. Last time was more than enough." She still had nightmares about the Loom of Fate, and she couldn't be sure that such a thing could be fixed, nor that she could prevent it from happening. Her time sense wasn't nearly as strong as either of her parents' and living in a different dimension dulled it further.

Plus, the nuances of time travel gave Eve a headache when she thought about it. Temporal physics were just not her thing, and what she understood about it had just been picked up through experience and exposure to her parents growing up. And who the hell knew what the laws of time were here, anyway? Because apparently not even the time vortex was the same from dimension to dimension.

Eventually, she was distracted by her irritation with Flynn and his departure, and just shelved any thoughts about possible time travel that might not have anything to do with her.

Until it did, and they were stuck in Shakespeare's London.

She wasn't _too_ worried about never getting back to the 21st century. If worse came to worse, she could always find a way to get ahold of her mum and they could catch a ride with her. But there was no guaranteeing the accuracy of her mother's timing in a dimension she rarely visited and a time vortex she didn't actually have a connection to. They could be waiting months, or even years.

Which was why she kept quiet and calm, hoping that Flynn would have a different idea. He was brilliant and more familiar with magic, after all.

She thanked any deities that may or may not actually exist here that he did, in fact, have a brilliant idea.

In the middle of the rather complicated, convoluted preparations he pulled her to him, an arm around her waist, and murmured, "Could your mother…?"

She shook her head and leaned on him with a sigh. "That would only be a last resort. I've learned that it's best not to complicate things further by introducing outside factors, and honestly, since we know so little about what might have happened, we have quite a lot of room to maneuver." Eve kissed him. "I trust you, Flynn. This will work."

When at last they had everything in place, Eve clung to him as Shakespeare wrote them into stone. Despite her faith, she was understandably nervous. She could tell Flynn was too. But he surprised her, turned and dipped her into a kiss. Distracted her as the magic crept over them so that instead she knew only him…

And then Cassandra calling them back to life.


End file.
